"Deep in my heart, I know there’s no promise I’ll be free from trouble in this life. In fact, I’m usually either getting out of trouble, currently in trouble, or about to meet trouble around the next corner."...... I hope you'll stick around for my "Lucille Ball/Gracie Allen" adventures. It promises to be a wild ride.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Enza by Kristy K. James

Product Description

It is a time of innocence and prosperity. The Women’s
Suffrage Movement gains more attention with each passing day. All across the
country housewives and young ladies harbor hope that they might finally win the
right to vote. Patriotism is at its peak as the war to end all wars rages an
ocean away.

On the home front, in a small town in Michigan, life is being lived out like
the pages of a Mark Twain novel. Until an unseen enemy, deadlier than any human
adversary, threatens Mankind’s very existence.

Elliot Owens – The only thing in the world that matters to Elliot is his wife
and their five children, and he will do everything in his power to protect them.

Daniel Pullman – When his plans to join the Army are dashed following an
injury, meeting the love of his life makes the disappointment easier to bear.

Colby Thornton – A devoted minister whose congregation loves him nearly as much
as he loves them, Colby struggles with bitterness toward the wife who doesn’t
love him at all.

Marcus McClelland – One of the local funeral directors, Marcus lives his life
avoiding close relationships because if he doesn’t care about anyone, it won’t
hurt when he loses them.

Jonathon Owens – At ten years old all Jonathon dreams of is to be a war hero…by
proving that his German neighbor is a spy.

When all is said and done, will any of them survive?

About the Author:

Kristy K. James' first goal in life was to work in law
enforcement, until the night she called the police to check out a scary noise
in her yard. Realizing that she might someday have to check out scary noises in
other dark yards if she continued on that path, she turned to her other
favorite love...writing. Since then her days have been filled with being a mom
and reluctant zookeeper (7 pets), creating stories and looking for trouble in
her kitchen.

I’d like to take a moment to express my appreciation to
Donna for helping me celebrate the release of my new novel, Enza. Donna,
thank you so much for allowing me to share this special event with your
readers. ~Kristy~

After deciding to write Enza, I thought researching 1918
would be a breeze. It didn’t take long to realize that the phrase,
“That’s what I get for thinking,” came about because of people like me. It
wasn’t because there isn’t a lot of information available about that year. It’s
just that nearly all of it relates to World War 1 and the Women’s Suffrage
Movement.

Books weren’t a great deal of help. And
movies? The only things I could find were a couple of old Doris Day
flicks (On Moonlight Bay and By the Light of the Silvery Moon). While
they were very entertaining, I’m fairly sure that the upbeat musicals aren’t an
accurate depiction of a lifestyle from any era.

So what’s a girl who wants to write knowledgeably about a
time, decades before her birth, to do?

She spends countless hours in state and local libraries,
skimming through microfiche until she can hardly see straight. She
also makes many, many copies of old newspapers to take home and study.

Newspapers from the early 20th century are
just a bit different than what we’re used to today. No, I really mean
they were different.

One ad, under the heading ‘School Days,’ advised
shoppers not to purchase a badly designed, badly fitting corset for young
girls. Why? Because it claimed that a girl’s figure will
develop into the shape of the corsets she wears. (So, so glad
that corsets went out of style before I was born!)

But that’s not all. A family reunion? Not
only was it announced in the paper but a list of attendees was often
included. Bridal shower? Everyone in the county would
soon know how many guests showed up, gifts received, and refreshments
served. Soldiers leaving for the war, or even just training
camps? Lists upon lists of individual names could be found in most
papers I read.

Know what though? I learned so much about people
from 1918 just by reading these papers. Sure I chuckled at some of
things they considered newsworthy. But it was nice to
see them inserted wherever they might fit. In the middle of a page
that includes information about a local farmer missing in action, a new warden
arriving at a prison, and a couple of suicides is the fairly long article about
the reunion, as well as a tribute to women.

Why were events such as these given space in the
papers? I can only assume that it’s because the people who
lived in the area were just as important as a big news story. What
was happening in their lives was newsworthy. Can
you imagine living in a time where a visit from an out of town relative is
important enough to merit a write up in the local paper?

I can…and can’t. I’m too attached to things like
computers, air conditioners, taco salads, and vehicles that travel faster than
40 mph to want to be transported back to the past. But I sure wish
we could figure out a way to import the innocence and attitudes so prevalent in
1918 to 2012.

My Review:

I love reading books depicting life from times long gone and
full of colorful characters. Enza was such a book. In the beginning, I was a
little lost trying to keep up with the different characters, but once I got in
to the swing of the story, it became a natural current between each chapter and
each character.

Kristy James did an exceptional job of taking the reader back
to the early 1900’s and immersing them into the ebb and flow of the everyday
lives of Enza’s characters. From the innocence of a little boy so intent on
helping his president capture a German spy to the preacher who cares deeply for
his flock, but is married to a heartless woman, the reader is taken on a ride
through their lives. You learn to love and you learn to dislike some of the
characters, but you keep turning the pages hoping to catch another glimpse into
their lives.

The book takes
the reader back in time to a charming and nostalgic period
of history, a time of community when neighbors truly looked out for one
another. Enza has humor, camaraderie, community, sweetness, and sadness. It
will play with your emotions until the last page and you will love every minute
of it. This is a great book and one I am happy to recommend.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Kristy is offering one print book and 3 digital copies, so all together there will be four winners. One for the print book and 3 for digital copies.

Kristy has also decided to add another giveaway, but this one will be from the comments of the entire blog tour. I encourage you to follow the blog tour and comment on each blog post because Kristy is giving out TWO $25 gift cardsand FIVE $10 gift cards to amazon.com, so the more blogs you comment on the better your chance of winning!

Here is the list for the blog tour. I am pretty sure that you can go back to all the sites and comment to better your chances for winning one of those two great AMAZON gift cards!

a Rafflecopter giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;.

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